We study optimization problems for partially hinged rectangular plates, modeling bridge roadways, in the presence of real and artificial obstacles. Real obstacles represent structural constraints to avoid, while artificial ones are introduced to enhance stability. For the former, aiming to prevent collisions, we set up a worst-case optimization problem in which we minimize the amplitude of oscillations with respect to the density distribution; for the latter, aiming to improve the torsional stability, we minimize, with respect to the obstacles, the maximum of a gap function quantifying the displacement between the long edges of the plate. For both problems, existence results are provided, along with a discussion about qualitative properties of optimal density distributions and obstacles.